Accidental Enchantment
by Shylia
Summary: FINISHED! Sophie and Howl attend Letty's Wedding and Sophie finds herself wishing that Howl would hurry up and propose already. Once that wish is made she has to make sure he really means what he is suggesting. PLEASE RXR...and enjoy :D
1. In Which Letty is Married

This isn't really the first chapter, but rather an introduction of sorts to my next story. It is based on

the book rather than the movie (by Dianna Wynne Jones), some some of the things really have

nothing to do with the movie. Which is why I wrote this, to try to kind of introduce a bit of the

book so you will kind of not really have a clue what im talking about...lol. Anyway, I know its

short but the first real chapter is well underway. Also I want to let you know that this is going to

be a rather short story, only a few chapters. So thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Letty had been terribly excited when Wizard Suliman offered to take her on as a pupil, and a bit

embarrassed by him having thought he was in love with her, even though it was Prince Justin's

memories. When they had returned to their respective bodies she had found the Wizard Suliman

very attractive, even more so than she had found Howl the day he came in the suit Sophie had

accidentally enchanted. But now she was to spend all of her days with this man, learning magic, as

she had learned everything she could from Mrs. Fairfax.

Nobody who saw them together ever though them just a teacher and a pupil and when the

announcement of their engagement came, soon followed by their wedding, no one was the least bit

surprised. The only thing that did surprise these onlookers was that Howl still hadn't asked Sophie

to marry him. Everyone knew it was inevitable but they were beginning to become as impatient as

Sophie herself.

Letty's wedding was held at Prince Justin's castle since Suliman was the royal wizard and the

prince would not hear of them having it anywhere else. It was a very grand affair and soon Letty

was happily married to her wizard. When it came time for Letty to throw the bouquet, she aimed

for Sophie, hoping it would help knock some sense into Howl. Sophie did indeed catch it and that

is where all the trouble began.


	2. In Which Sophie Talks to Flowers

Having to wait for Howl to escape from crowd of beautiful women didn't making Sophie too happy.

She sat on one of the empty chairs near the door while Howl wasn't very successfully making his

way to her and Michael was sweetly promising to visit Martha as soon as possible, which would

likely be tomorrow. Having nothing else to do while she waited she began to talk to the bouquet

now clutched in her hands.

"What lovely flowers you are, and to mark such a joyous occasion, you must be very proud."

As usual, there was no reply from the flowers, but Sophie had grown so accustomed to talking to

things that she hardly noticed anymore.

"Perhaps someday I can have flowers as lovely as you at my wedding. I don't suppose you care to

wait that long to make an appearance at mine do you? Well, there is no guarantee just how long you

would have to wait. Howl still hasn't bothered proposing. He probably just assumes that I will go on

living there always and that there is no need. Perhaps he is right; I don't think I could leave him, even

only to make a point. And if I could then I certainly couldn't leave Michael, though Michael is nearly

grown. He's already planning to marry Martha as soon as he turns eighteen, and he will be that in

two months."

Again, the flowers didn't answer, but she could feel their sympathy for her and continued on with her

rant. She found herself wishing the flowers could somehow make Howl ask her to marry him

already. She was the eldest sister and already one of her younger sisters was married, and the other

was soon to follow. She couldn't bring herself to be jealous of her sisters; she knew it had to be her

luck as the eldest.

"And here I thought I was over the streak of bad luck in my life. I'm just so tired of waiting." Sophie

finished on a sigh.

"Tired of waiting for what?" Howls curious voice chimed in.

She turned crimson, though not for talking to things this time, but rather from almost having him

overhear this particular conversation. "Oh, nothing really, just that my seeds would hurry and grow

into flowers as lovely as these." She said as her mind quickly searched for things that she could be

waiting for.

He gave her a strange look at her hesitant answer. "Well, I can always make you a spell to make

them grow faster if you are really that anxious for them."

"Perhaps that would be a good idea." Sophie replied thoughtfully.

"Once we manage to pry Michael from Martha's side are you ready to go home? Almost everyone

else has left."

"Yes, of course. He might be more easily persuaded if you promised him time to see her tomorrow."

Howl chuckled as he made his way to his pupil. "Michael, it's time to go; Sophie is starting to talk to

things again." As he turned to walk away he threw back over his shoulder, "Oh yeah, and she said

to tell you that you could have time to see Martha tomorrow." With that he returned to Sophie's

side.

As they began to walk the rather long trek home Howl pulled Sophie's arm into the crook of his,

taking the bouquet from her hand to carry it for her. The three talked about the wedding all the way

home, but Sophie couldn't shake the feeling that she had done something terribly wrong, but she

refused to let that feeling ruin their walk. Walking was, after all, much more enjoyable now that she

was young again and didn't need her walking stick. As she was so absorbed in getting to spend time

with Howl, it took her the entire trip home to realize what the bad feeling was for.

"Sophie, would you walk with me in your flower garden for a bit? I need to talk to you." Howl

quietly asked as Michael looked at Sophie then gave her a huge smile as he raced to his room.

Setting down the bouquet he grabbed her hand and led her back toward the door and turned the

knob to purple-down. As he pulled her out the door she caught a last glance of the bouquet and it

finally dawned on her what was wrong. It was very dangerous for her to talk to things now that she

knew about the magic she possessed. Why did she have to tell the bouquet about her problem with

Howls timing!?

"Howl, I don't think this is a good idea…" She managed to get out before the door closed behind

them.

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Aww, such nice reviews! Thank you all so much :) And I hope this chapter met with your

expectations.


	3. In Which Howl Proposes

I'm sorry that it took me so long to write this everyone. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Despite all of Sophie's arguments, Howl had made up his mind that tonight he was going to ask

her to marry him. Now that he actually thought about it he couldn't figure out why he hadn't done

it sooner. He had been waiting for the right time, but never seemed to recognize it when it came.

That being the case, he didn't notice anything at all odd about suddenly discovering the perfect

time.

When they reached the perfect place overlooking the stream that was bathed in moonlight he

finally stopped. Howl spread his coat out on the ground then pulled Sophie down to join him.

She settled into his arms and stared up at the stars dreading the moment when he would say

what he brought her here to say. "Howl it's a little chilly out tonight, maybe we should go back

inside."

"Sophie, what's wrong? You are acting weird tonight. Did something happen at the wedding?"

Howl asked.

Refusing to admit what she had done, hoping there was a chance she could get out of it, Sophie

insisted than nothing was wrong. At her answer Howl pulled her deeper into his arms to keep

her warm.

Sophie sighed in resignation and relaxed against him, deciding that no matter what she said or

did Howl was going to do exactly what he wanted. Soon, the feel of his arms around her quieted

her thoughts as well. Enjoying the closeness they had stumbled upon over the years, they

dreamily watched the stars dance through the sky.

Sophie thoughtlessly reached over and picked one of the flowers surrounding them and began to

play with its petals. When she realized what she was doing thoughts of what she had done to

Letty's bouquet came flooding back to her. It was as if Howl had read her thoughts at this

moment. Tonight she seemed like a guilty child, though he couldn't think of any reason why she

should.

Sophie's guilty conscious got the better of her and her face turned crimson. Howl noticed her

blushing and couldn't help but smile at the picture she presented. Sophie blushed even more at

his smile and grasping for something to break the moment said "Letty's wedding was lovely.

Don't you think? I can't believe she is married now."

"Yes, it was a nice wedding, though I think you should start getting ready for another one pretty

soon."

Turning even redder, Sophie replied "Oh, yes, I suppose I must. Michael will soon be old

enough to marry Martha and he doesn't plan on waiting any longer than he has already had to."

"That's not what I'm talking about Sophie. Surely you don't think we are going to go on as we

have been forever?"

"Uhh…"

As Sophie began to look panicky Howl went on. "Sophie, I have been meaning to ask you this

for a while; will you marry me?"

Sophie answered rather gravely "Oh Howl, I have wanted you to ask me that so much, but I'm

afraid I have to say no."

"No? But why Sophie?"

On a sight she said "I suppose I have to tell you now."

"Tell me what? Is this why you have been acting strange all night?"

"Yes, it is. I didn't want to have to tell you that I have done. It was an accident I promise. I'm

still not used to my magic." She turned around to face him. "Well, you remember how you found

me talking to myself while I was waiting for you and Michael to leave? Well, I wasn't talking to

myself. I was talking to the bouquet. I was actually ranting a bit about how long you were taking

about proposing to me."

Howl continued to look at her, confused at what she had said. Sophie obviously thought she had

done something wrong, but he couldn't figure out what she was talking about. "Sophie?"

Seeing his confusion Sophie continued on. "I enchanted it Howl, I enchanted the bouquet, and

carried it home for me. It's like what I did to your suit, only I was focusing this on you rather

than other people. Don't you see, that's the only reason you wanted to propose to me tonight."

Sophie barely got this out before she burst into tears. Without giving Howl a chance to say

anything in reply she stood up and ran back to the castle and shut herself in her room.

Howl, frozen in shock of what she said sat there as she returned to the castle. He could see why

she would be upset, but was that really why he had proposed tonight? He hadn't planned it, he

didn't even have a ring, but surely he would have felt her magic working on him.


	4. In Which Spiders Save Howl

Sorry I kept you all waiting so long, as I said I was having issues keeping the book seperated from the movie. To make up for it I added extra fluff and the spiders that were requested. They were a lovely idea, and I hope you like what I did with them. And you anyone else has anything they want to see in here let me know and I will see what I can do. Thanks for being so patient with me and I hope you enjoy!

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Still slightly stunned by Sophie's announcement, Howl slowly made his way back inside. Calcifer, who had noticed Sophie run by not moments before, chose to keep his mouth shut as Howl threw himself down in a chair near the fireplace. When the shock of it all finally began to wear off of Howl, he turned to pouting. Calcifer had no idea what their lover's spat was about but it was enough to upset everyone in the house.

"Howl, what did you do to Sophie?"

Still pouting Howl answered in outrage. "What did _I_ do to her?!?! _I_ proposed to her!"

"Proposed to her? Well why isn't she happy then? She has been waiting around for you for years."

"How should I know? She took it into her head that the only reason I proposed was because she accidentally enchanted some flowers!"

At this reply Calcifer couldn't help chuckling at the situation they had gotten themselves into. If it wasn't one thing going wrong, it had to be something else. "Well Howl, there is nothing to be done about it tonight. You might as well go get some rest."

"Oh fine." Howl mumbled as he drug himself from the chair and moodily climbed the stairs.

When Howl reached his room he was greeted by an army of small creeping spiders. His spiders had remained afraid of Sophie after she had threatened them during one of her cleaning fits. That was also the reason they remained loyal to Howl, he had after all saved them on many occasions. When Howl threw himself on his bed they surrounded him, offering what comfort they could. When he only pushed them away they sadly crept back to their corners.

"I have to figure out a way to convince her that I meant what I said. Maybe there is a way to prove that her magic didn't affect me. It couldn't affect me without me noticing at all!" With that said Howl began his contemplation of ways to make things right. Soon after he began this contemplation he fell asleep.

After learning that Sophie was the cause of Howl's mood, the spiders took it into their tiny heads to find a way to help him in his endeavor. They crept out of Howl's room and made their way to Sophie's. Whatever the problem was, Sophie was sure to forgive him for anything if he saved her from a horde of spiders. One by one they moved stealthily into their seemingly menacing places, scattered throughout her room. The bravest of the spiders crept right under the blankets with her.

As the sun slowly rose above the mountainous horizon, casting a golden glow on everything the light touched, Sophie slowly stretched and then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Pulling the blankets off of her legs she noticed a certain crawling sensation. Her eyes flew to the creatures covering her legs and then scanned the room only to find that she was completely surrounded by spiders. Without another thought she let out a blood curdling scream.

Startled from his sleep, Howl shot out of bed and ran to see what was wrong with Sophie. Howl had never heard her scream quite like this before and automatically thought the very worst. Running through the house he burst through her door to find her trembling in bed surrounded by his spiders that were trying to act menacing. Upon this sight Howl began to laugh and when Sophie heard him he received a glare that sent him into action.

Since he had already ruined the chance to charge in and rescue her he simply said, "After pulling this stunt my friends I'm afraid there is nothing more I can do to protect you from her."

When they realized what Howl had said their act dropped and their eyes grew wide in fear. All at once they burst from Sophie's room in retreat, heading for the sanctuary of Howl's room.

Sophie's fear had melted away to anger once they were gone. "Howl Jenkins! What were those spiders doing in my room? If you can't keep them away from me then I will make them leave!"

Still chuckling at what his spiders had done he replied "If they ever do it again Sophie, then I won't stand in your way. But I think perhaps this time they should be excused. You see, they were worried about me last night when I came in upset and I think they took it into their heads to help me out. They were trying to scare you so that I could run in and rescue you, but I'm afraid I ruined that for them."

Sophie couldn't help herself; she had to smile at the antics the spiders used to help Howl, even if it did involve scaring her. "I suppose I did cause quite a scene last night. I meant what I said, but it wasn't your fault that I made the enchantment."

"Sophie, there has to be something I can do to prove that I want to marry you. Even if it was your spell that made me propose last night, that doesn't mean that I didn't want to. I had been meaning to ask you for a while but I could never seem to find the right time."

Tears began to fill her eyes at his speech. "Are you sure Howl? You don't have to ask me just because I wanted you to do it right now. I'm not going to leave you if you don't. I love you too much."

When he saw her tears, he joined her on her bed and gathered her into his arms. As she finished talking he gently brought his lips down upon hers. "So does that mean you will marry me now? Now that I have asked you, three times now, I would like the correct answer."

Sophie couldn't hold in the laugh that seemed to bubble through her. "I suppose I can give you the answer you want. Maybe I should enchant things more often!" She finished on a chuckle and she threw herself back into his embrace and their lips met once again.

It was just then that Michael had finally drug himself from bed and made it to Sophie's room to see what all the fuss was about. Upon seeing them locked in each others arms, he rolled his eyes before closing the door. As he headed back to his room to go back to sleep he shouted over his shoulder to Calcifer. "Don't worry Calcifer, everything is fine. I'm sure Howl came to the rescue and set everything to rights."


End file.
